


A Different Tail

by Tenryu_no_Hoko



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 09:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20328739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenryu_no_Hoko/pseuds/Tenryu_no_Hoko
Summary: What if instead of Natsu going to find Igneel in Hargeon, Wendy went to find Grandine? What if instead of Lucy wanting to join Fairy Tail, it was Romeo? Set in an AU of pure gold, let's find out what happens when we swap our favorite fairies around. This will be RoWen with many more ships sailing in! (or being sunk, depending on my mood)(Originally posted on Fanfiction.net on June 26, 2016 under the name Tenryu no hoko)





	1. Fairy Tail

"Child, how many times must we do this?"

On the floor of a train car lay a small, seventeen year old, blue-haired girl wearing a cloak over her green and yellow sundress, and she looked about halfway from puking her guts out. Looking pitifully down at her was a white feline standing on her back paws and wearing a cat-sized pink dress.

"Excuse me, miss," said one of the train workers, "will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine." said the cat.

"I'm dying..." the bluenette said weakly.

The worker sweatdropped. "Uhhh..."

Carla gave out a sigh and continued. "Don't worry, she always gets this way on trains."

"...this is the end..."

The worker then gave one last worried look to Wendy before turning back to Carla. "Uhm, okay then." He walked away, and the train finally made its stop in Hargeon.

"You see, Wendy, that wasn't so bad. And if the information we got was correct, the Sky Sorceress should be in this town. Isn't that great, Wendy?" said the cat as she got off the train. She paused for a moment to wait for the girl's response. "Wendy?" she called again. She then began to wave her head around frantically, hoping to catch sight of the girl. "WENDY!?"

"CARLA!" the poor blue-haired girl called, hanging from the window of the train that was now leaving. The feline then flew after her, whispering to herself about how this girl would ever be able to take care of herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of Hargeon, an eighteen year old, purple-haired boy wearing an open red vest that exposed his abs, an orange scarf, and green pants was on his way to the local magic shop.

"Urgh, is this really the only magic shop here?" the boy complained.

"Well, Hargeon is more prosperous in fishing than in magic to begin with." explained the store owner, "Only about ten percent of the townspeople can use magic, so this store is mainly targeted for travelling mages."

Romeo sighed, "I guess I'm wasting my time here."

"Now don't say that! We have plenty here!" The store owner ducked behind his counter for a minute and then came back up holding a little box-like object with a dial. "This magic is called **Colors**! Use it, and you can change the color of your outfit!" To demonstrate this, he turned the dial, and his clothing magically swapped between different colors of the rainbow. "This is normally more popular among the girls, but some men do use it too. Or, maybe you can give it as a present for your girlfriend."

"Yeah, don't want it and don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh, well that's too bad."

The ravenette's only response was a low growl and a glare to the old man.

"I meant that you don't want to buy it!" the owner exclaimed. He then went back behind his counter to put the **Colors **away. "Though, it is a little sad you don't have a girlfriend..." he whispered.

Luckily for the old man, Romeo hadn't heard this remark. He was too busy looking over some of the other magic items the shop was selling.

"Do you have anything that powers up fire magic?" Romeo asked.

"Fire magic?"

"Yeah, like..." the boy looked around a little, trying to think of an example, until his eyes fell upon a glass box. "Like this!"

"That?" the owner asked, confused.

"Yeah," Romeo said, still looking in the box. In it, there was a ring with a purple gem that had a purple gem with a fire insignia on it.

"That only powers up **Purple Flare**." the man said, "And that's not even one of the stronger fire-based magics. It can't burn anything and its only purpose is sticking to stuff. Are you sure you want it?"

"Yes. And, **Purple Flare **can be strong. You just need to know how to use it right."

"Okay then. That'll be twenty-thousand jewels."

Romeo blanked at the old man. "What."

"I said that will be twenty thousand jewels."

"Okay..." Romeo walked up to the man's counter and held up his finger. "How about, instead of twenty-thousand jewels, we make it ten-thousand." he said while smiling.

The owner simply looked at him with a straight face. "No."

"Eleven-thousand?"

"No."

"Twelve-thousand?"

"No."

"Thirteen..."

* * *

**Ten Minutes Later:**

"Man, I can't believe he only dropped the price by a thousand jewels." complained our ravenette as he walked along the streets of Hargeon. "And I don't even think it was because of my haggling! He probably just wanted to get rid of me! Oh well..." Romeo lifted up his right hand to admire the new **Purple Flare Ring **that lay on his middle finger, right between the **Red**, **Orange**, and **Yellow Fire Rings **he had. "At least I got this."

As he continued walking, he overheard two boys about his age talking about a famous mage as they walked past him.

"Did you hear that the Sky Sorceress is coming to town?" asked one.

"Yeah, I heard she's super strong" said the other, "and hot."

As Romeo continued along, he began to think about what those two guys had said. _''Sky Sorceress, huh? The female mage who can use wind magic no one else can? It'd be pretty cool to meet her.' _he thought to himself. _'And I wonder if she really is hot...'_

* * *

"I ended up riding that train twice." whined the young bluenette as she trudged through the streets of Hargeon.

"You really need to get better with transportation." Carla stoically told her.

A grumble was then heard from Wendy's stomach. "And I'm hungry..."

"Then let's get something to eat."

"We don't have money..."

"And whose fault is that?" the Exceed asked, raising an eyebrow to the girl, "I told you not to spend it all on sweets."

"But they were so _good._" Wendy groaned. They took a few more steps, then Wendy resumed conversation. "Hey, Carla? By the Sky Sorceress, they mean Grandine, right?"

"Most likely." answered the cat, "Though, for some reason my premonitions can't see it. But, yes, they probably mean Grandine."

They both stopped when they saw a large crowd in front of them cheering loudly and making whistling noises.

"Woooo!"

"Yeah, Sky Sorceress!"

"Show us your magic!"

"Did you hear that, Carla?!" the young girl asked excitedly, "Sky Sorceress! That must be Grandine!"

* * *

In the crowd, Romeo was staring at the mage known as the Sky Sorceress, right now with only one thing on his mind. _'Dayummnn, she's fine.'_

She was about one or two years older than him, with a voluptuous figure and grayish-white hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a light purple shirt that hugged the curves of her body and exposed her bellybutton, along with dark purple skinny jeans, a short cape, and a stereotypical witch hat. Romeo would have kept staring, except something else caught his attention.

"Grandine!" yelled a voice. The ravenette snapped his head towards its source, and instantly he snapped out of his trance.

_'Huh? What was that?' _He thought, _'I'm normally not _that _much of a pervert... Oh gods, I think I'm becoming my dad.' _Feeling a little ashamed, he looked at the Sky Sorceress' hand and began to perk up. _'Or, they were just using a __**Charm **__magic... Yeah, I'll go with that... It was all their __**Charm **__magic...'_

Meanwhile the bluenette who had shouted finally entered the crowd and caught sight of this "Sky Sorceress".

"Grandine, I missed- Who the hell are you?"

The younger girl looked bewilderingly at the older one, who did not seem at all offended. The men in her audience however, besides Romeo, were.

"Who is she?!"

"She's the marvelous Sky Sorceress!"

"How can this tramp not know her?!"

"Now, now, calm down," the Sky Sorceress said in a soothing tone, to which the audience did so. She then faced the blue-haired girl that interrupted her. "Now, you may know me as..." She flipped her hair and gave a side glance to the girl while also putting her hands on her hips. "The Sky Sorceress!" She waited for the girl's impressed gasp, but, too bad for her, she already left. "GONE ALREADY?!"

"Hey, who does this bitch think she is?!"

"She should show Sorceress-sama some respect!"

"Apologize!"

The now angry mob dragged Wendy back over to their crowd, still demanding she apologize.

The Sky Sorceress simply raised her hand, and the crowd calmed itself. "Now, I'm sure she didn't mean to be rude."

"SO KIND!"

"BE MY GIRLFRIEND!"

The white-haired mage walked over to the girl on the ground. She scribbled something on a piece of paper, then handed it to her. "Here, my signature. You can show it off to all your friends."

Wendy gave him a bored and confused look. "I don't want it." She then got up and slumped away, slightly starting to tear up. Carla reunited with the girl on her way out. "Aw, I hoped that'd be Grandine."

"I know, Child," Carla said while gently patting Wendy's leg, "I know."

"Now, if you'll excuse me," The Sorceress said as she snapped her fingers and suddenly purple winds began to come up from beneath her and carry her into the air, "I have some errands to run. There'll be a party on my yacht this afternoon. You boys are all welcome to come." And with that, she flew off in the direction of the port.

* * *

"What is she?" softly mummured Wendy as she sat down and watched the Sky Sorceress leave.

"Disgusting," said a male voice from behind her. She turned around, and saw a purple-haired boy offering a hand to help her up. "Thanks for your help, by the way."

The bluenette took his hand and met him at about eye level. "What help?" she asked, confused.

"That Sky girl. She was using a **Charm** magic. You broke it." he explained.

Wendy was about to explain that she didn't really mean to do anything, but her stomach got to talking before she could.

"You sound hungry," said the boy, who then slammed a ringed-fist into his opposite hand as he got an idea. "I know! To repay you, I'll buy you lunch."

To that, Wendy's eyes glistened with joy as she accepted the boy's offer.

_'Why do I feel like I just made a terrible mistake?' _he thought.

* * *

Romeo could only watch in shock as he looked at the small girl in front of him inhaling what must be three times her body-weight's worth of deserts.

"You ah, you sure like sweets." he said. He then looked over at her accompanying feline companion, who was only eating a small steak with a fork and knife.

"Wendy, what have I told you about manners?" the cat scolded.

"Sorry, Carla," said Wendy, who then took a napkin to wipe her face. "Thank you for the meal."

"No problem," Romeo lied. _'All the money I saved... gone...'_

"Though, you didn't _have _to do this." Carla said, "After all, how do I know you're not trying to take advantage of-"

"Carla!" Wendy interrupted, "Be nice. He's giving us a free meal."

"I know. I'm just worried about his motives," the cat said as she gave Romeo a look of suspicion, "What, exactly, are you repaying her for?"

"The-*cough*- the **Charm** magic. She was using it on all the men in the crowd, and it put them in a trance. Then you came along and broke it." he said, nervous from the cat that appeared to be trying to burn a hole in his skull.

"A **Charm **magic, huh?" Carla skeptically said.

"Yeah. It was banned long ago." Romeo told her, looking disgusted. "Honestly, it gives mages a bad name." He paused for a moment, then laid back in his seat with a grin. "You know, I'm a mage myself."

Carla rolled her eyes. "Are you now?" she asked, not actually interested.

"Yeah, but I'm not in a guild yet, though," Romeo continued, "Oh, yeah. A guild is like an association where wizards can go to take jobs and earn money. You won't be considered a full-fledged mage until you join a guild. There's lots all over the world, and some are pretty hard to get into. But I have my eye on joining a certain guild. Lots of great mages gather there, and I bet I'll be able to do a lot of jobs."

"Ooh, I see." said Wendy, with genuine interest.

"Are you done yet?" asked Carla, with genuine 'would rather be somewhere else'.

"Fine," Romeo mumbled, then he looked at Wendy, "So, who were you looking for?"

"My mother, Grandine." Wendy replied.

"Has it been a while since you've seen her?"

"Yeah," Wendy sighed, looking down, "But it wasn't her. Didn't even look like her..."

Romeo looked at her nervously. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel-"

"No, it's fine." Wendy interrupted.

They both sat there in silence for a moment. Romeo took a sip of the drink that he had (and was the only thing he could actually afford for _himself_) before saying, "What did she look like?"

"A dragon." she said casually.

Romeo nearly choked on his drink. "A DRAGON?!"

"Yes."

"THERE WOULDN'T BE A DRAGON IN THIS TOWN!"

Both girls (or girl and cat) tried to protest, but they came up empty.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU JUST REALIZED THIS?!" Romeo continued to shout, more surprised than actually trying to insult her. Unfortunately, she did begin to tear up, to which Romeo tried to calm her down. "Ah, no no, don't cry," he said nervously, realizing that people were starting to stare, "You heard that it was your mother. I can understand why you hoped it'd be true."

She still sniffled a little, but she began to calm down. "Thanks."

Romeo waited until she was done crying, then got up and placed the money for the meal (_'More like all you can eat desert buffet' _Romeo thought) on the table. "Well, I'd better get going. But you can take your time."

He then made his way to the door, when the bluenette got up and bowed to him. "Thank you!" she shouted.

Romeo rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "There's really no need to thank me. You already helped me out."

"But I don't feel like I've done anything." Wendy said, now standing up. "Oh, I know!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with "Sky Sorceress" inscribed on it.

"Uhm, no thanks."

* * *

Later on that afternoon, Romeo had bought a copy of Weekly Sorcerer (What? He read it for the articles... mostly...) and was now reading it on a park bench.

"Huh, looks like Fairy Tail's causing trouble again," he said to himself as he read, "What was it this time? Ooh, they destroyed the Devon Thief family, but also seven other houses that belonged to the townspeople." He then closed the magazine and began to walk off. "Ahh, I can't wait to join Fairy Tail."

"So you want to join Fairy Tail, huh?"

The ravenette looked over to the bushes where the voice was coming from, and out stepped the female wizard that he'd met earlier. "I think I can help with that," she said. She then walked over to Romeo and lightly pressed her finger into his chest. "You know, you're a cutie. Will you be attending my party?" she asked hopefully as she lightly drew circles on his shirt.

But, Romeo only looked at her with confusion. "What were you doing in a bush?"

The Sky Sorceress froze for a moment and put her finger to her chin in thought. "Ah, not important. Anyways..." She recomposed herself. "Will you?"

"As if." the boy scoffed.

The wind mage was shocked. "_WHAT?_"

"You use **Charm **magic to trick people. As if I'd want to be seen with a mage like that."

"So, you figured it out?" she said, "Oh well, too bad. And to think I was going to bring you to Fairy Tail..." She started to walk away, but stopped once the boy called her.

"Did you say... Fairy Tail?"

She smirked, knowing that she had him. "That's right. I'm the Sky Sorceress of Fairy Tail. Come to my party, and I'll even put in a good word for you to the master. And..." she leaned in towards him, revealing a bit of cleavage, "I really do want you to come."

He took a moment to pretend to consider. But, in reality, he was staring at her chest. "Hmm, well, maybe it won't be _so _bad."

"Good," she smirked, "I'll see you there."

* * *

Later on and across the town, the young bluenette and her cat strolled across a heightened walkway, overlooking the ocean.

"That was a good meal," Wendy said.

"You ordered one small sandwich and two of everything on the desert menu," Carla said, "Explain to me how that should count as an actual 'meal'?"

Before Wendy could explain how chocolate was invented by the gods and that since it came from a bean, which was a plant, it was technically a vegetable **(you have no idea how many times I've actually said this to my parents)**, Carla pointed out to the ocean.

"Hey, isn't that the Sky Sorceress' ship?" she asked. She then looked at Wendy, who was hanging on the railing and about to throw up. "Don't get motion sickness just imagining it!"

It took her a minute, but she was able to stand back up. Once she does, she overhears two boys talking about something.

"Is that the beautiful Sorceress-sama's ship?" asked one of them, "Aww, I wanted to go to the party, too..."

"Sorceress?" asked the other.

"You don't know? The Sky Sorceress of Fairy Tail. She's holding a party out on that ship."

The two then walked away, and the bluenette looked fiercely out to the ship.

"Fairy Tail...?"

And then she started to throw up again as her hands rushed to cover her mouth.

* * *

On the boat, Romeo was dining with the famous sky mage.

"Champagne?" she asked him, pouring two glasses.

"No thanks," he declined, "I don't really drink."

"Oh, are you sure?" she asked looking disappointed, but she once again leaned in, "Not even at parties?"

"Well, I guess one couldn't hurt..." He took one of the glasses and was about to put it on his lips, but then he stopped himself. "Wait..." he said, looking at her with suspicion, "There's a sleeping potion in here, isn't there?"

She was taken by surprise for a moment, but that didn't last long. She even began to chuckle. "And here I was, hoping to do this the easy way. BOYS!"

"What?" Romeo turned around, and saw two large goons come up from behind and grab him.

"Looks like a good one." said the one on his right.

"Yep, nice and strong," said the one on his left, "Perfect for our slave ring."

"What the hell?!" the captured boy shouted.

"This is a slave ship," Sorceress answered **(from now on, I'm simply calling her "Sorceress")** answered, "I'll have to ask that you be quiet until we reach Bosco."

"Wait, what happened to Fairy-

Before Romeo could finish his sentence, Sorceress grabbed his hand and forcefully yanked the rings off of it. She then took them and threw them out the window.

"You won't be needing those anymore."

"Hey!" Romeo shouted. He then gave her a look of anger and disgust. "So this is a mage of Fairy Tail?" He looked down, shadows covering his eyes. "Cheating people. Abusing magic. Performing slavery?! You're the worst type of mage there is!"

Right then, a figure came crashing down from the ceiling in a cloud of dust. Once it cleared, it revealed a slender bluenette with fire in her eyes.

"Wendy," Romeo said, shocked.

"The brat from earlier?" asked Sorceress.

The bluenette said nothing. Her eyes pierced through Sorceress as she took a battle stance. She looked like she was about to strike, and then...

...she fell down in sickness.

"Nope, I can't do it." she said weakly.

"EEEEEEHHHH?" Romeo exclaimed.

Another girl then flew down from the hole. This one with white hair, a pink dress, and... cat ears, a tail, and wings?

"Hm, the boy from earlier?" the new girl said in a voice that was familiar to Romeo, "I guess I'll save you." She took Romeo in her arms and carried him skyward.

"Who are you?" Romeo asked her.

"Carla."

"What?!" Romeo responded, shocked, "But, your- a girl?"

"Gee, thanks." Carla replied in an annoyed tone.

"No, I mean. You were a girl before- but- your... human?"

"Yes. And don't get any ideas. This is just a transformation."

"Trust me, even with the new look, you're not my type."

"Likewise."

They flew in silence for a little. The Romeo looked back to the boat. "Shouldn't we be helping her?"

"I would, but... my transformation's run out."

With a _poof_, Carla reverted back into her normal form, and both she and he fell into the ocean.

_'I can't believe Fairy Tail is like that,' _Romeo thought underwater, _'No, I have to rescue Wendy and the others first.' _He looked around underwater, until he came across four sparkles on a nearby rock. _'Bingo.'_

He placed the rings on his hand. Slamming his fists together, they began to glow as Romeo performed one of his more powerful spells. Fire magic swirled around him like a sphere and the water nearby began to boil. At the last possible second Romeo's eyes widened and his magic erupted wildly under the calm sea. "**Exploding Inferno**!"

* * *

Above water, Carla was swimming along trying to find signs that the boy survived. "Great, did I rescue him for nothing?"

She was about to head for shore, but then she felt the water behind her heating up and bubbles quickly rising. Looking back, she saw a massive explosion of rainbow colors blast out of the surface and from the force alone a giant wave rose up and swept away both her and the ship onto shore.

Carla gasped for air as she got up and dusted herself off. She then turned to see Romeo lying on his back breathing heavily next to her. "I'm going to guess you did that."

Romeo only coughed and took a look around him before seeing Carla. "It worked?"

"Yes. And let me just say that I find it amazing that you can get caught up in your own explosion."

"Shut up, Carla."

They both glared at each other until Carla remembered something important. "Wendy!"

They both looked back to the ship, where they saw said girl being surrounded by Sorceress' goons.

Romeo slowly rolled onto his stomach before pushing himself up and he was already jump back into action, but Carla stopped him. "Wait," she said.

"Huh?"

"I forgot to tell you," the Exceed said with a smirk, "Wendy's a mage, too."

"EEEHHH?"

They both looked at the girl, one shocked (Romeo), and one proud (Carla).

"Are you a mage of Fairy Tail?" Wendy asked Sorceress with a serious tone.

"What of it?" Sorceress asked mockingly.

"Let me get a good look at your face." She stopped to look at Sorceress' face, and it only made her angrier. She approached her and hit away two goons trying to intercept seemingly without any effort at all. "I'm Wendy of Fairy Tail! And I've never seen your bitch ass before!"

"EH?" Romeo exclaimed for the umpteenth time today.

"WENDY! LANGUAGE!" shouted Carla.

Sorceress looked shocked at this new information. Slowly, she tried to back away.

Wendy took off her cloak, revealing her arms and the symbol shaped like a fairy with a tail on the left one. As soon as Sorceress' goons saw it, they began to panic.

"With that mark..."

"She's real, Airos-sama!"

The one now revealed to be Airos slapped the man. "Idiot! Don't call me by my real name!"

"Airos, Airos of Prominence," Carla explained to Romeo, "She was banished from a guild called 'Titan Nose' several years ago."

"I've heard of her," Romeo responded, still not quite believing what was happening, "She's committed several thefts using magic and got banished."

Wendy slowly walked over to Airos, her hair shadowing her eyes. "Listen, I don't care if you're a bitch-"

"LANGUAGE!"

"-or a good person." She raised her head and gave a look of pure hatred to the fake Sorceress. "But I will _never_ forgive you for disgracing the name of Fairy Tail!"

"Whatever," Airos said uncaringly, "You're just a noisy brat." She then lifted her arm, and sent a fierce stream of red winds towards the bluenette. They engulfed her entire body, leaving nothing left to be seen as the violent wind swirled around her.

"Wendy!" Romeo cried out. He tried to go and help, but Carla blocked him with her wing.

Airos turned away, already smiling at her victory.

"Awful." said a voice from within the winds.

Airos spun back around, surprised to hear anything from within the winds. Especially the slurping sound she heard now.

Everyone, minus Carla, was surprised at what they saw. The harsh winds that had been surrounding the girl were not only disappearing, but the girl appeared to be... eating them?

"I've never tasted such awful 'wind'." Wendy then wiped the side of her face. "Thank you for the meal."

"WHAT?!" went Airos and all of her goons.

"Wind magic won't work on Wendy," Carla said.

Romeo could only keep his eyes on the girl as he stood there, impressed. "I've never seen such magic."

"Now that I've eaten," Wendy said as she got into a battle stance and white wind swelled causing her long blue hair to dance in it, "I'm all revved up!"

Carla sighed and shook her head. "Wendy, don't try to have a catchphrase."

Ignoring Carla, Wendy then began to suck in the air around her. Airos was cowering over the oncoming attack, and her crew was doing much of the same.

"No way," said one crew member, "Can she be...?" He then ran to Airos in terror. "Airos-sama! I've seen her before!"

"Huh?!" Airos said.

Wendy leaned her head back in preparation...

"Long blue hair and the mark on her left shoulder..."

… she brought her hands up to her face and created a funnel from her mouth...

"No doubt! She's... the real..."

...and she released a swirling tornado that swept away everyone in sight.

"Sky Sorceress," Romeo whispered in awe.

"Remember it well," the real Sorceress said as she approached the trembling Airos with wind swirling around her hand, "This is Fairy Tail's-" She pulled her hand back and gave a swift uppercut to the impostor, sending her flying backwards. "-mage!"

"Eating wind and punching with wind..." said the boy still in awe, "Is it really magic?"

Carla merely smirked at the boy's astonished gaze. "Dragon's lungs to breath in the heavens, Dragon's scales to pierce the heavens, and Dragon's claws cloaked in the heavens' mighty winds. This is an ancient spell that converts the body to a dragon's constitution. **Dragon Slayer Magic.**"

"DRAGON SLAYER?!" exclaimed Romeo as he continued to watch the one-sided fight.

"Grandine taught Wendy this."

"It's weird how a dragon taught someone how to kill dragons," Romeo mused to Carla, "Right?"

"Yet you don't doubt it."

"Dragon slayer..."

Airos was almost down for the count. Wendy ran up to her with an arm covered in a wing-like wind barrier, prepared to give the final blow.

"She's amazing."

"Yes, she is," Carla said, "but..."

Wendy struck Airos, not only blowing away her, but also every single building within a mile behind her.

"...WENDY, YOU'RE OVERDOING IT!"

"The port," Romeo said as the dust settled, "It's... destroyed!"

"WHAT'S ALL THIS RUCKUS?!" shouted an armored man running towards them, with about fifty or more in tow.

"The military!" Romeo shouted. He then felt a small hand take his and he began to blush. _'Wen-'_

His thoughts were interrupted as soon as the body that was attached to said hand began to run, dragging him through the air. "Crap! Let's run!"

"Language!"

"We don't have time for that, Carla!"

"Why me-?"

"Why are we dragging him along?"

"Because," the bluenette turned her head to look at Romeo and gave him one of the warmest and widest possible smiles as she continued running. "He said he wanted to join Fairy Tail."

Romeo took in what she had said for a moment, then smiled back.

"So come with me!" Wendy added.

"Okay!" Romeo said, and they both ran off together, about to start their new adventure.


	2. Dragons and Monkeys

In the city of Era where the magic council meets, a group of men and women work to maintain the order of the magic world. Currently, they were discussing a regular topic of theirs: Fairy Tail. Particularly, the events in Hargeon.

"Those idiots in Fairy Tail did it again!" shouted one council member.

"They destroyed half a harbor this time!" exclaimed another.

"Eventually, they could destroy an entire town." a third said.

"Don't jinx it, it could actually happen!" yelled a fourth.

"I don't know what the big deal is," Everyone's eyes focused on the well-dressed green haired man. "I happen to like them. They may be uncultured, but they are entertaining."

"Shut your mouth!" The first councilor said, "They're more like morons! But they're powerful. Which is why they're the biggest thorn on our sides."

"We could just let them be," the green-haired man said casually, "After all, this world would be a lot more boring without those 'morons'."

* * *

Meanwhile in Magnolia, three mages were standing outside of a large building with the Fairy Tail symbol on the front.

"So this is Fairy Tail..." Romeo whispered in awe.

Wendy chuckled and smiled at the boy. "You'll like it here. We're all one big family."

"I suppose I should be the one to warn you..." Carla said in a bored tone, "This place can be a bit-"

A man suddenly came flying through the doors. The three mages were just barely able to dodge him in time.

"-rambunctious."

Wendy opened up the doors of the building, revealing a huge brawl taking place where everyone participating was throwing chairs, tables, and, as you've already seen, people.

"This is a family?" Romeo questioned.

But, the girl remained smiling as she looked at them. "Ohayo!" she shouted.

Everyone immediately stopped in their fight and dropped whatever they had (leaving several people more pissed than they were to begin with) and looked at the girl. "Ohayo!" they all shouted, then went back to the fight.

"So, Wendy," said one man who wasn't participating, "Were you able to find Grandine?"

"No," she glumly stated.

The man rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh. I'm sorry. I heard the rumors and I figured..."

"It's fine." Wendy interrupted **(I'm giving her a habit of doing this, aren't I?)**.

"Oh, well, okay. I hope you have better luck next ti-" He was interrupted yet again, this time by a flying chair. He got back up and stared angrily in the direction it came from. "Hey! I was talkin' here!" He then left to join the fight.

The bluenette went back over to the boy she brought with her. "So I guess I should introduce you to some people then."

"Uhm, why are they fighting?" Romeo asked.

"Don't worry about it. It happens all the time. You can join in if you want. But if you don't, make sure you know when to-" She grabbed Romeo by his scarf and yanked him down just as a flying table was about to hit them. "-DUCK!" They both got back up, and Wendy began to look around. "Now, let's see... Ah!" She smiled as she pointed in the direction of the fight. "That's Gray."

Romeo's eyes landed on a black-haired man wearing a large white trench coat. "Oi! You bastards want a piece of me?" **_This is Gray Fullbuster. A very skilled and dedicated mage. Yet, he has a slight, or rather extreme, habit of choice._**

"Gray, your clothes!" shouted a red-head in armor.

The person known as Gray looked down in shock to realize he was only in his boxers. "What the-?!"

The same woman looked over the battlefield in disgust. **_This is Erza Scarlet. She has a quick temper and is known for her enforcement of the rules. _**"Enough of this madness! Guild mates shouldn't fight!" she shouted while getting up. Of course, her tone and nature did nothing to calm anyone.

Romeo then noticed a woman walking by her and over to them while effortlessly dodging the airborne chairs and people. She had short, white hair and was wearing a nice white dress. "Hi Wendy! Welcome back." **_This is Yukino Agria, one of the kindest members of Fairy Tail. She mainly works to maintain the bar, but also works part time as a famous model. _**"Oh, whose this?" she asked as she noticed Romeo.

"This is Romeo," Wendy answered.

Meanwhile, said boy was fanboying over the girl. "Oh my gods! You're Yukino! I've seen all your photospreads!" Taking a moment to realize what he just said, his face turned a bright crimson. "Not like that of course!" he said frantically while waving his hands. "I don't do anything perverted with them! I just look at them because I think you look nice in them! I mostly just read the article that goes with it!"

The famous model giggled. "It's alright. I'm pretty sure the only guy in here who doesn't do something perverted with those magazines is my brother."

She gestured over to a black-haired male wearing a gray shirt and black robe who looked agitated as he was trying to sip his tea. "Idiots." **_This is Rogue Agria. He prefers to remain in the shadows. Yet he will always come out should it be needed._**

"Oh, what fun!" The three mages attentions then turned to a short, blonde haired girl in a puffy white dress who was giggling, "This guild is always so lively!" **_This is Mavis Vermillion. An optimistic member with extensive trivial knowledge._**

"So, it really is always like this?" Romeo asked.

"Yep," Wendy answered.

"Pretty much," stated Carla.

"Is that a problem?"

"No," Romeo said while smiling, "Actually, it looks kind of fun."

Gray then came flying at them and landed right at their feet. In the direction he came from, a man was laughing as he twirled Gray's boxers in his fingers.

"Kyaaaa!" Wendy shouted as Carla quickly flew to cover her eyes.

"Gray!" the Exceed hissed, "What have I told you about being naked in front of Wendy!?"

"It's not like it's on purpose!" he shouted back. He then calmed himself and looked at Romeo. "Excuse me, could I borrow your pants?"

"Hell no!" Romeo shouted as he punched Gray in the face. He looked at his fist and smiled. "Huh, I was right. That _was_ fun!" He then jumped right in to join the brawl.

"Great, we have another one," Carla complained as she lowered herself from Wendy's eyes.

The brawl continued on, and Romeo seemed to be enjoying himself. He especially seemed to like beating up Gray.

"Who are you, kid?" asked Gray, who managed to regain his (or at least a) pair of boxers.

"Name's Romeo," Romeo told him as he went in for another punch, "And what's with the 'kid'? We're practically the same age!"

"Never seen you before," Gray said as he dodged and delivered a punch to Romeo's gut.

"Ooof!- I'm new. Was planning on joining today." the ravenette coughed.

"Well, then let me give you your official welcome." The half-naked man parted his feet and held a fist in his hand. Frigid air then began to surround that fist.

"So, we're using magic, are we?" Romeo smirked as his rings began to glow, "Fine by me."

"This is going too far!" shouted Erza, who had a tick-mark on her forehead, "I guess I have to stop this myself!" She was then surrounded by floating swords, each aimed at different guild members.

"Huh, I just wanted some silence." sighed Rogue. He stood up and wrapped his arm in shadows, also ready to fight.

But, before anyone could launch any of their attacks, an enormous figure came out, and everyone stopped immediately. Well, everyone but Romeo, since the figure was right behind him.

"What?" he asked. "Did I scare everyone somehow? I didn't even do anything ye-Owfh!"

A gigantic foot came down and crushed the boy. "Enough of this, brats!" shouted the body the foot was attached to.

"Hi, master," Yukino said calmly.

"Uhm, master," Wendy started, "You're stepping on someone."

"Hm?" the giant lifted his foot and, sure enough, there was a boy flattened on the bottom of it. He then picked him off and set him on the ground, before shrinking back to his normal size. "Ah, who might you be?"

"Romeo," the flame mage responded, not entirely sure if he was looking at one person or three.

"And what brings you here?"

Finally, Romeo's head stopped spinning, and he was able to look directly at the master. "I wanted to join."

"Well, Romeo, I'd say you'll fit right in," the master chuckled. He then leaped backwards to the second floor's railing, only to fall short and end up hitting it with his back. He brushed himself off, and climbed atop the railing.

"Now, we've been getting complaints from the council," the master started, causing everyone to go into a panicked silence, "First: Gray, good job on sweeping out the smuggling organization, but you walked around naked in the town afterwards, and stole a pair of underwear that was out to dry."

"But... wouldn't it be worse if I were naked?" the ice mage asked.

"Then don't be naked in the first place." Carla told him.

The master sighed and continued on. "Rogue! I've gotten countless complaints from parents about your shadow magic giving their kids nightmares. Erza! Threatening people for not enjoying cake is unacceptable. You must learn to control your temper."

He read a few more complaints, until he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And Wendy..." he said as he looked at the girl, "I don't know how a sweet girl like you can cause so much destruction, but... Just this week, you blew away seven houses, a clock tower, a church, and most recently, half of Hargeon port."

Romeo stood with his mouth agape as he glanced at the girl. _'Most of the articles... were about her?!"_

"But," the master's words interrupted Romeo's thoughts, "Screw the council!" The short man then light the papers on fire and threw them into the air.

Everyone stood in shock as the master stood before them. "Listen up! Magic is not a miracle. The power to overcome reasoning is from reasoning. When the 'spirit' flow within us and the spirit flow within nature connect, they will form an embodiment for the first time! You will need a strong mentality, and a lot of concentration for that. Pouring all of your soul into whatever you do is magic. You can't be worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher ups. Otherwise your magic won't improve." He then grinned wildly and shouted, "Do not fear the fools of the council! Do whatever you think is right! That is what it means to be-" he lifted his staff high into the air. "-A FAIRY TAIL MAGE!"

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" everyone screamed in excitement.

Romeo smiled as he watched everyone cheer, laugh, and party to their hearts content. _'I think I'm gonna like it here.'_

It was a little while later now. Romeo had already gotten his guild mark. He had requested that he had it put on his right shoulder and in blue. ("Blue?" questioned Yukino as she held the stamp, "That's interesting." "How so?" Romeo asked. The bartender merely glanced over to a table where a certain sky slayer was sitting. "Oh, no reason...").

He went off to show Wendy his new guild mark. "Check it out, Wendy," he said as he showed it to her.

"That's great, Romeo!" she exclaimed.

"Wendy, don't you think it's about time we went on a job?" asked Carla, with a hint of annoyance.

"Oh, you're right," said the girl as she got up, "I'll see you later, Romeo."

They both got up and went to the request board, not looking back at all, but Romeo still felt like he was getting death glares from Carla.

"Let's see, which one should we pick?" asked Wendy as she skimmed the board. Finally, her eyes landed on a request to help a town with a bandit problem. She picked it up and got ready to take it to Yukino. "Let's do this one, Ca-"

"Is my daddy back yet?"

Wendy looked over to the source of the voice. It being a crying little pink-haired girl talking to the master.

"Now Chelia, your father is a mage," the master began, "Trust him and be a good girl. And go home. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"But, he said he'd be back in three days," the little girl sobbed, "and it's been a week since then!"

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you go and drink some milk or something?" the master tried to say calmly, but clearly he was getting annoyed.

Still crying, Chelia punched the master in the face and went to go cry in a corner.

"The master's harsh, isn't he?" asked Romeo, who was sitting at the bar.

Yukino sighed as she continued to wash dishes. "He may seem that way, but he really is worried about Macao, too."

The slip of paper dropped from Wendy's hand. Shadows covered her eyes as she went over to the crying girl.

Chelia stopped her sobbing when she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her. Opening her eyes, she saw waves of blue hair through her tears.

"It'll be okay." Wendy whispered to her before standing back up, Chelia looking at her face. Wendy gave the girl one brief yet hopeful smile, and then exited the guild hall.

"You know she's going after Macao," a man by the request board said.

"Wendy's a capable mage, Nab," Makarov responded, "She's capable of making her own choices."

Romeo watched as Wendy made her exit. "She's worried about him too, isn't she?" he asked.

"It's more than that," Yukino responded, "She doesn't want Chelia to go through what she has."

Romeo looked at her in confusion, which led the white-haired girl to explain further. Once done, Romeo knew what he had to do.

* * *

A few minutes later, he, Wendy, and Carla were on a carriage headed for Mount Hakobe. Wendy was dealing with her motion sickness, and Carla was still wondering why the boy came at all. Finally, she asked, "Why are you here?"

It's not like Romeo wasn't expecting the question. He knew she'd ask from the moment Wendy said he could join and the cat began glaring at him. "Well..."

"Carla, don't be ru-" A hand quickly rushed to Wendy's face, quick to prevent the oncoming vomit.

"I just want to know why..." Carla continued, then raising an eyebrow to Romeo, "Well?"

"I just figured, you know, you could use some help. Since you said you had problems with transportation and all." Romeo said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Right..."

Carla still didn't fully trust him, but she didn't feel like he wanted to hurt Wendy, either. Meanwhile, Romeo was thinking about what Yukino had told him earlier...

* * *

"_Wendy seems innocent, like she's never known pain. But, like the rest of us, she carries old scars," Yukino said, "Wendy knows what it's like to lose a parent. Her foster mother, Grandine, left her at a young age. She may not have known her real parents, but that didn't matter. Because Grandine was always there for her." Yukino sighed before continuing. "Then one day, Grandine left her. She had been everything to Wendy, and she left. And Wendy still doesn't know why."_

_Romeo's face grew solemn. "Wow, it must have been heavy on her."_

"_It was. That's why she has to go save Macao. She doesn't want Chelia to face the same pain she has." Yukino looked to Romeo. "Go with her." she said, startling the fire user, "She may have Carla, but sometimes even she isn't enough. Wendy is strong. Some may not see it, but she may be one of the strongest among us. But not even the strongest person can bear that kind of pain forever. So, if she fails..." Yukino trailed off._

* * *

_'I won't let that happen.' _Romeo remembered the promise he made to Yukino.

His thoughts were interrupted as soon as they reached the base of Mount Hakobe. They all stepped out, and Wendy began to shiver.

"I told you to bring a jacket," Carla scolded.

"We d-didn't h-have time, C-Carla," Wendy stuttered through the cold.

Carla rolled her eyes and looked at Romeo. "How come you're not cold? You're not exactly wearing a parka."

"I'm a fire user," Romeo responded, "We're naturally warm." He then looked at the poor, shivering girl and took off his scarf. "Here," he said as he held it out to her.

"You s-sure?"

"Yeah, take it. Right now, you need it more than me." he handed her the scarf once again, and this rime she took it. She wrapped it around her neck and began to warm up a little, yet a light redness could still be seen on her cheeks.

Both mages looked at each other, smiling, until Carla interrupted them

"Eh-hem," she coughed, "Weren't we doing something?"

"Oh, right!" Wendy said as both she and Romeo snapped out of their trances. She then began to walk around and sniff the air.

"What's she doing?" Romeo asked.

"Her dragon abilities give her enhanced senses, including smell. Right now she's probably smelling for Macao or a Vulcan." Carla explained.

"Vulcan?"

"The monster Macao was sent to fight."

Wendy stopped sniffing and grew a smile on her face. "I got his scent, come on!" She led them into a cave, where the bluenette called out, "Macao, where are you?"

Her voice echoed through the cave. It seemed like she wasn't going to get a response, until she did... in the form of a giant snowball.

The three mages just barely had time to duck as the frozen projectile whizzed right over their heads. They all then looked to the thrower, a large, black and white primate.

"Vulcan?" Romeo asked.

"Yep." Carla answered.

As this happened, Wendy had gotten up and slowly approached the Vulcan. "Excuse me?" she asked sweetly, "Have you seen Macao?"

"Ma- cao?" the beast asked in confusion.

"Yes. He's a human man. Do you know where he is?"

"Me no like man," the beast replied. It then leaned in towards Wendy and gave her a lecherous look, "Me like woman."

"Oh... um..." Wendy said as she backed away nervously.

The monkey made several grabs for her. She was able to dodge most of them, but finally she had been caught when the large ape slammed both of its hands together.

"Wendy!" Romeo cried out.

"LET HER GO, PERVERT!" Carla screamed as she summoned her wings and raced to the ape. The Vulcan put Wendy in its right hand, lifting its left one up and having Carla crash into it and fall to the ground.

"Carla!" Wendy called as she looked at her fallen friend.

Romeo had finally decided it was his turn to talk to the ape. "Let her go!" he shouted.

"No!" the Vulcan shouted back, "Me like women. You go away. Me no like man."

Romeo was about to launch a fireball at the perverted monkey, but he knew that even if he missed his target just slightly, he could end up hitting Wendy instead. So, out of an act of desperation, Romeo said the one thing he could think of. "Wendy... is a man...?" (In an alternate universe, an incredibly buff, white haired MAN(!) sneezed)

The Vulcan became confused. It held the girl in front of it, staring intensely at her to determine if this was true. Particularly, it was looking at her chest. "You right." it said, causing Wendy to cover her chest in sadness.

Romeo figured he'd probably have to apologize later, but right now he was just hoping that the Vulcan would let her go. Which he did... by throwing her out of a hole in the mountain that led to a steep drop.

"No!" Romeo shouted.

Carla regained her strength just in time to see the girl disappear. "WENDY!" said the Exceed as she flew after her.

Romeo was now all alone with the Vulcan. He turned around to face it, glowering in anger. "The hell'd ya do that for!"

"She was man," the Vulcan replied, confused, "Me no like man."

"I don't know if you're stupid or just need glasses," Romeo said as he slammed his ringed fist into his opposite hand, "But what I do know, is that I'm gonna enjoy beating you up for throwing her off a cliff." The ravenette brought back his arm, the red ring glowing and his fist ablaze with red flame. He then swiftly brought that arm back up and aimed his palm at the monkey to shoot a stream of super-heated flames at it. "**Red Flare**!"

The ape dodged a majority of it but the spell had left a few singes on the ape's back. However, the wall behind where it once stood now had a five foot indent in it.

A roar shook the ice cave before the Vulcan beat its chest and charged at Romeo. "That's it, come in close…" The ice beneath the ape's fists were cracking as it was putting its full force into a body slam.

Romeo jumped out of the way quickly but sooner than he thought, the ape's shadow loomed over him and with both of its fists behind its head, the ape was ready to slam them down and turn Romeo into a pancake.

"**Purple Flare!**" He ignited his left hand and connected the purple fire to the ceiling of the cave. "Oops! Too slow!" Romeo pulled himself up and felt the wind rush through his clothes as the ape's fists narrowly missed.

"**Yellow Flare!**" His yellow ring glowed violently as a large yellow flame lit around his right fist. "Eat this!" Romeo released his purple flare and slammed his stink flames right into its nose as he fell from the ceiling.

As the ape began to stumble backwards with its eyes shut he covered his nose in pain from both the hit and the awful smell that just wouldn't go away. Romeo landed on the ice safely and slammed his ringed fist into his open palm.

"This is what you get for being a perv! **Inferno Fist!**" His orange ring glowed as his right fist was set ablaze with a giant orange flame. Romeo charged and right before his fist connected the flame condensed several sizes smaller than what it once was. As soon as it slammed into the ape's stomach the flame exploded outward and engulfed the ape in a brilliant blaze. The spell singed most of its fur and sent the ape flying backwards until it smashed into a wall of the cave.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Romeo teased.

"Great job, Romeo."

The boy looked back to see the girl he had presumed dead was floating outside of the hole she'd been thrown out of. She then flew back in to reveal that she was being carried by Carla, who had her wings extended. Carla set the girl down and then landed herself.

"Wendy, you're alive," the boy said with both relief and joy.

"Yeah, Carla saved me," Wendy replied while smiling.

"But I thought you couldn't handle transportation?"

"Ahh... Wendy," Carla said as she nudged Wendy's leg, "I think the Vulcan is-"

"How could you say something like that?" Wendy asked as she looked at Romeo in horror, "Carla isn't a vehicle. She's my best friend."

"Wendy," Carla repeated as she saw the Vulcan getting up.

"We're all friends at Fairy Tail. Every one of us..."

"Ah, Wendy, I think you should look behind you," said Romeo, now seeing what Carla was seeing.

"...from the master, to Yukino..."

The monkey was now up and ready to charge...

"...to Rogue, Mavis, Gray..."

… it began to run at the girl at full speed...

"... to Erza, Jet, Droy..."

"Wendy I get it now turn around."

...the monkey was almost at her...

"...Carla, and you. We're all friends. That's why-" She turned around and faced the primate mere feet from her. "-I'm not leaving without Macao! **Sky Dragon's Roar**!"

A hurricane shot out of her mouth and sent the ape back, crashing into a wall and rendering it unconscious.

The beast began to glow where it lay. Strange rectangles enveloped it, and when they cleared, they revealed a purple-haired man in his mid-twenties in their place.

"Macao!" Wendy said excitedly as they all ran to him.

"It looks like the Vulcan did a **Take Over** on him." Carla explained, "It must have left his body once it was defeated."

Wendy knelt before the beaten man. "You're hurt."

She dragged Macao from where he was so she could lay him down flat. She then knelt before him once again and put a pair of glowing green hands on his chest.

"Forgot to mention," Carla said with a smirk, "Wendy also has the ability to heal people."

"Amazing..." Romeo whispered in astonishment.

"Damn Vulcans," Macao grunted as his wounds closed, "I was only able to beat nineteen of them. I was taken over by the twentieth one."

Romeo sweatdropped. "Ah, that's still pretty impressive..."

"Yeah," Wendy agreed, "Most mages would end up beaten by the second or third one. Now come on," She got up and smiled at Macao, holding out a hand to help him up. "Chelia's waiting for you."

* * *

Back in Magnolia, a pink-haired girl was crying on a stairway as she prayed for her father's safe return. Her sadness was partly because of the fact he was missing, but most of it came from guilt.

She had always been made fun of at school. From her expressions of her "LOVE~!" to her own father, the other girls wouldn't stop teasing her. So, when she had finally had enough, she begged her father to go prove them wrong.

The sound of footsteps grabbed her attention. She looked up and smiled as she saw her father walking towards her. They both ran to each other and embraced each other in a hug, wanting to make sure that this was real.

"Dad," she cried, "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Macao said, "I made you worry."

Chelia smiled. "It's okay. I'm the daughter of a mage."

"Chelia," Macao smiled, "If any of those girls ever tease you again, ask them if their parents can beat up nineteen Vulcans!"

Everyone smiled as Macao and Chelia went home, and Wendy, Carla, and Romeo went in the opposite direction. Chelia ran back quickly and shouted, "Thank you! Wendy-nee! Carla-san!"

"You're welcome!" Wendy sweetly shouted back.

"And you too, Romeo-nii!"

Romeo smiled at the gratitude. _'This guild really is crazy' _he thought, _'But, they really are a family that cares for each other. I think I'm gonna like it here.'_

* * *

**Omake:**

The three mages were on their way back to the guild from their day's adventure, when a thought came across Carla's mind.

"Hey, guys," the cat said, getting the other two's attention, "Random thought, but... don't you think that Romeo kind of looks like Macao?"

"Hmm..." Wendy said as she examined the boy's face.

"What, like, an older brother or something?" Romeo asked in confusion.

"No, more like he could be your father." the Exceed clarified.

The other two pondered this for a moment, then shrugged. "Nah."

"Yeah, your right," Carla said, "Must have been my imagination."


	3. Daybreak

It had been one day since Romeo and Wendy's adventure to Mount Hakobe. Since then, Romeo had found a nice apartment in Magnolia to live in. The rent was pretty steep, with it being seventy-thousand jewels a month, but it was close to the guild (and the cheapest one in town. Why are the others so expensive!? Do they keep needing to pay for damages or some- oh. Right. They're in the town with Fairy Tail in it.), so he couldn't complain.

Romeo had just woken up from his first night in his new home. He decided he'd go take a shower, make himself some breakfast, and go straight to the guild. His first payment was due at the end of the month, and he wanted to buy some furniture for his new place, so he figured he should go out on a job pretty soon.

After Romeo's shower, he dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist as he went to admire his new apartment. It wasn't much right now. All the walls were bare and a plain white color. There was no furniture, save for the bed he'd slept on, a desk in his bedroom, and a table and chairs in the kitchen. But he had plans for his new "bachelor pad". He was going to get a couch, the new Lacri-TV that was just invented, a coffee table, and recliner for his living room. He'd turn one of the medium sized rooms into a personal gym (these abs don't just happen), where he'd lift weights and maybe show off to his girlfriend, should he get one. But, his best plans were for his own room. He'd walk in there and he's see-

"Wendy?!"

Romeo stood paralyzed as he saw the blue-haired girl and white exceed sitting down and sipping tea in his room. He hadn't been expecting to see them until he got to the guild. And of course the fact he was only wearing a towel didn't help.

As soon as she heard her name, the bluenette shot up and bowed to Romeo. "I'm sorry!" she shouted, "Yukino told me you found somewhere to live! We thought you were moving in _today_! We didn't realize you were ho-" Wendy had stopped her bowing and was now looking at Romeo. Her cheeks became a light pink, and her eyes glazed over, as she now had an even better view of his abs and muscles.

"Wendy, how many times have I told you not to over-apologies?" Carla scolded, still looking at her tea, "It was a simple mistake, so if he's smart enough to understand that-"

"Hey!"

"-then a simple 'I'm sorry' should suffice. It's not like we-" Carla was now also looking at Romeo, except she didn't quite have the same expression Wendy had.

"Pervert!" the Exceed shouted as she launched herself onto Romeo and began attacking with her claws.

Romeo used one hand to clutch his towel to make sure it didn't slip while he was being attacked, and, with his free hand, he was trying to fend off said attacker.

"How am _I _a pervert?!" Romeo shouted, "I had no idea you were here! In fact, what are you doing in _my _home?! Uninvited, I might add!"

With this, Wendy snapped out of her mini-trance and ran to remove her partner from the boy. "Carla, he's right! It's not his fault!"

"Thank you," Romeo sighed, somewhat thankful the cat was gone but still annoyed that it happened at all, "Now, unless you wanted something, finish your tea and- wait! Where did you get tea?!"

Carla took another sip of her drink. "Your kitchen."

Romeo could feel the slight migraine coming on. He let out a sigh. "Whatever. Unless you had something you wanted from me, please leave once you've finished your drinks."

"We did have something to ask you," the Exceed said, "Isn't that right, Wendy?"

Carla waited for the girl to ask her question, but when she didn't, the cat looked at her and saw she went back to vacantly staring at him. "Wendy!"

"Hai!" the startled bluenette shouted.

"Didn't you want to ask Romeo something?" Carla asked, raising an eyebrow and now about as annoyed as Romeo.

"Right! Romeo," She was no longer looking directly at him, and a hint of shyness could be heard in her voice. She then turned to face him with big, pleading eyes and asked, "Wouldyouliketojoinmyteam?"

"Huh?" Romeo asked, only catching parts of that.

"Would you like to join my team?" the girl asked again more slowly.

"Sure," he said, "I'll join your team. Are there any other members?"

The girl was elated. "That's great! And yes, besides Carla and me, there are two others. But they're out right now on solo missions and may not be back for a little while."

"Cool. Let me put some clothes on and we can talk about this more."

* * *

The two left Romeo's room to go and wait for him in the kitchen on the first floor. After about thirty minutes, the boy came down the steps in his usual dressings to meet them.

"What took you so long?" Carla asked.

"I had to do my hair." Romeo answered simply.

Carla raised her eyebrow. "It really takes thirty minutes to do _that _to your hair?"

"So, Romeo," Wendy said, desperate to prevent an argument (read "mauling") between her best friend and her new friend (though, who would be mauling who is the real question), "How does your magic work?"

"Well, I use **Rainbow Fire**," Romeo explained, then spread his arms as a myriad of different colored flames made an arch over his head. Wendy and Carla also noticed that the red, orange, yellow, and purple ones seemed to be both larger and brighter. "It lets me use different types of flames with different abilities."

He brought his hands together, then extended his right one while holding a red flame. "**Red Flare **is a super-heated flame that can burn through almost anything." Romeo flicked his wrist, and the color of the flames changed from red to orange.

"**Orange** is just basic fire, no real explanation needed." He flicked his wrist again, and the flames became yellow.

"**Yellow **is scented fire. I mostly use it to create bad smells to attack opponents, but I can change the scent to whatever I want." He walked over to the bluenette and held the flame in front of her. "Here, smell."

Wendy took a big whiff, and let out a happy sigh. "Roses."

"Yep," Romeo said. He then looked at Carla and did the same thing.

Carla was reluctant, but she smelled the fire anyways. Afterwards, she went into a coughing fit. "Agh! Ack!" Carla gasped, "That smelled like rotten fish!"

"Oops," the ravenette said while trying to hide a smirk, "Must have lost focus and changed it. That's its default setting."

With another flick of the wrist, the colors changed again. He kept scrolling through the colors of the rainbow with his fire. **Green **was an illusionary fire, which he demonstrated by trying to make illusionary birds appear, and failing ("You sure that's a bird? Looks more like a flying blob." "Carla, that was rude!" "S-shut up! I'm still new at this one!"). **Blue **was a cold flame, which he used to freeze Carla's tea ("Hey!" "Sorry, I was aiming for... the plant. Yeah." "You don't have a plant.") **Indigo **was an exploding flame, which he used to make mini-fireworks ("Ooooohhh... aaaaaahhhhhhhh... eeeeeeehhhh..."). And **Purple **was a sticky, solid flame that could be used to grab objects, create a shield, or have harder punches. All he did for that one was just cover his hand with it and hang from the ceiling ("Are you humming the Spiderman theme song?").

"I also have these rings," Romeo continued his explanation, showing the rings on his hand to the girl and cat, "They help me focus my magic and enhance it. Which, is why I'm better with some flames than with others. Right now all I have are the **Red**,** Orange**, **Yellow**, and **Purple** ones."

"That's very impressive, Romeo," complimented Wendy.

Carla rolled her eyes. "You've seen better fire magic. Remember Matza?"

Wendy shuddered. "Please, don't remind me about Matza."

"What happened in Matza?" Romeo asked curiously.

It looked like Carla was about to go into telling a story, but Wendy cut her off. "You don't want to know."

"Hmph, fine," Carla huffed, crossing her arms, leading Romeo to believe _she_ had a good time in Matza, "Well, I guess we should go to the guild."

"Great," Wendy smiled, then turned to Romeo, "And, since you're the newest team member, _you _can pick what mission we'll go on."

* * *

Romeo stood in front of the request board, scanning it. He was still a bit miffed about the whole "home invasion" thing today. He liked that Wendy wanted him for her team, but he just wished she'd gone about asking him in a different way. Or, at least when he wasn't naked. But, she said that he could pick any mission he wanted and she'd do it...

...Wait a minute...

_...Any _mission...?

Romeo grinned evilly. He had come up with the perfect plan to get back at her for breaking in to his new place. Now, all he needed was the perfect job...

Romeo's grin grew wider as his eyes landed on the request in the lower right-hand corner. He tore it off, and went to bring it to Wendy.

"You find a mission?" she asked.

"Yep," Romeo answered while smiled as he handed it to her.

She read the paper aloud. "_Break into Everlue Mansion and destroy the book _Daybreak. _Reward: 200,000 jewels. Caution: The owner is a huge pervert who is hiring..._" Wendy's eyes widened as she read the next part, "_... beautiful... maids..._"

"What kind of perverted job is this?!" Carla screeched.

"It's not perverted," Romeo defended, "and you said I could pick _any job,_ so I chose this one."

Carla snatched the paper from Wendy and looked it over. "It says right here the owner of the mansion's a pervert!"

"Maybe. _But,_" Romeo raised his index finger. "this is also the best way to break in."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "And, what exactly, will _you _be doing?"

Romeo smiled. "Simple. You two will dress as maids. Carla, you'll need to be in your human form. You'll sneak around, let me in, and we'll all search for the book and I can destroy it with my flames." He held up a hand with orange fire in it. "Piece of cake."

"Cake?!"

"There's no cake, Erza." Romeo called back. He then leaned in towards Wendy and whispered, "Does she have dragon-hearing too?" The girl shook her head no. "Oh, okay then. Anyways..." he gave them yet another smile, "What do you say?"

"No," Carla said while crossing her arms, "Wendy, tell him we're not doing this."

"Why not?" Wendy asked.

"Eh?"

Wendy looked at Romeo's and Carla's surprised faces.

"You _want _to do this?" Carla hissed.

"Sure," Wendy said, then turned to Romeo and smiled. "Romeo chose this mission, and I trust him. So let's do it!" she said gleefully.

Romeo and Carla were both shocked at the girl's response. Carla because she didn't want Wendy anywhere near that pervert (there was a very unflattering picture of him on the request), and Romeo because, well, he kind of meant this as a joke.

He figured she was just calling his bluff. So, he decided to go along with it.

"Well alright then!" Romeo said as he clapped his hands together, "Let's do this!"

* * *

It had taken them about an hour to get to the town on the request by carriage. Wendy had to deal with her motion sickness the whole time. Meanwhile, Carla was busy glaring at Romeo. Overall, it had been an uncomfortable experience for everyone.

Before they went to go meet their client at his mansion, Romeo and Carla both went to get lunch. Wendy said she had to go do something, so that meant that the two of them would be alone...

...together...

_...Yay._

They both ate in silence for a while. Romeo didn't really know what to say, but Carla seemed to have a topic on her mind.

"You'd better not actually be thinking of letting her do this," Carla said in a serious tone.

"Of course not," Romeo reassured her, "I just meant this as a joke. We'll find some other way into the mansion."

"Good. Now make sure you tell her that."

"Doesn't she already realize?" Romeo asked, getting a little concerned.

Before the Exceed could answer, the certain sky slayer they were talking about came around the corner.

"How was your meal, master?"

"Ma...ster...?" Romeo turned his head around to look at the bluenette.

And in that moment, he knew he was screwed.

Wendy was wearing a maid uniform that consisted of a short, black dress, a white apron over it, a white head-band, thigh-high white stockings, and two-inch black heels. She also had her hair done into curly pig-tails.

"Romeo," Carla said with a smirk, "Something you want to tell Wendy?"

The boy was now sweating. "Ahm... ahh... erhhh..."

"Romeo, what's wrong?" Wendy asked with concern.

"Oh, uhm," Romeo nervously started, "Well, you know you don't have to do this, right?"

"But I want to," Wendy said, now looking a bit depressed, "Why? Do you think I look bad in this?"

"No! Not at all, it's just..." Romeo took a minute to come up with a convenient excuse. "It said the guy's a huge pervert, so I'd understand if you didn't want to."

"But I do," Wendy said confidently, "This is the best way to handle the mission, and I always put all of my heart into any mission I do. Besides..." Wendy smirked, "I can handle myself."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the guild, a cute little blonde was looking over the request board.

"Master," Mavis said to the short old man, "Where's the request to go to Everlue Mansion?"

"I believe Wendy and Romeo took that request," Makarov answered back.

Gray smirked. "Hah! That newbie flame-brain? Teaming up with Wendy? Psshhh."

Mavis looked down in depression. "Aww... I was hoping to go on that one..."

"Well, maybe it's better you didn't," the master said while drinking his coffee.

"Why?" asked the curious girl, "Did they cancel?"

"No..." The master gave a Cheshire grin, "They raised the reward to two-million jewels!"

* * *

After lunch, they all went to the client's mansion to discuss the details of their mission with him.

"Hello, I'm Kirby Melon," the client told them.

_'Melon' _Wendy thought, _'Where have I heard that name before?'_

As Wendy pondered this, the client continued with his request. "I want you to break into Everlue's mansion, find the book _Daybreak_, and incinerate it."

"No problem," Romeo said confidently.

"Why do you want us to destroy a book?" Carla asked.

Kirby's face grew solemn. "Please, just do this. That book _cannot _be allowed to exist."

They all saw the discomfort on their client's face. Deciding it'd be best to change the subject, Wendy stood up and said, "Don't worry, sir! We'll take care of this for you."

The client smiled. "Thank you, miss."

"Yep," Romeo leaned back on the couch confidently, putting his hands behind his head, "Should be an easy twenty-thousand jewel."

"Actually, I raised the reward to two million."

Romeo shot back up and the three mages eyes all widened as soon as he'd said that.

"T-t..."

"Two..."

"MILLION?!"

"Yes," the client said, "I truly do want that book destroyed. If you think I should pay you more-"

"No!" Romeo interrupted, "Two million's great! Let's see, two-million, among the three of us..." Romeo began to count with his fingers.

"Roughly around six hundred sixty thousand each, genius," Carla said sarcastically.

"I was getting to that!"

"Right," Carla said while she rolled her eyes and Wendy giggled.

* * *

Outside the Everlue Mansion, our three wizards were just about ready to put their plan into action.

Carla decided she'd join Wendy in going undercover too. She knew the girl'd probably be fine on her own, but she still wanted to be there just in case. She didn't even need to buy an outfit. With her transformation magic, she turned into her human form and was able to create a maid outfit similar to Wendy's.

The two were now standing outside of the mansion. Wendy rang the doorbell and waited for a response.

Suddenly, there was a slight rumbling from beneath the ground. A man with a curly mustache and a creepy face popped out from where it was centered. "Boyoiyoing! You called?" the man said as he looked at the two girls, "Ah, you must be here for the maid opening. Let's see..." He began to examine Wendy. "Nope. Go home, ugly."

"Ugly?" Wendy said, looking like she was about to cry.

Resisting every urge she had to rip the guy's nuts off for calling her friend "ugly", Carla put on her best smile. "What about me?" she asked in mock sweetness.

Everlue looked at Carla. "Hmm... no. You go home too, ugly." He said as he waved them both off.

"Ugly?!" the cat in disguise screamed in rage.

"Yes, ugly." There was another rumbling, and from behind Everlue, four of the most hideous girls(?) in maid outfits popped out. Just from looking at them, Romeo wished he hadn't eaten before he got there. "As you can see, only beautiful girls can suit me. Now, the two of you leave, uglies."

Wendy slumped away, feeling like a sign that said "ugly" had just been shot right through her. Carla also felt like an "ugly" sign was shot at her, except she caught it. She was now using it to beat the nearest maid. "Teach you to call _me _ugly!"

"Hey, it's okay," Romeo said as he put his hand on the shoulder of the now depressed bluenette, who was curled up and sitting next to a tree. He then looked over to where Carla was attempting her massacre. "It's clear that guy has a twisted sense of beauty."

Wendy looked up to see the boy's disgusted face aimed at the old pervert. As she did this, an enraged human Carla came flying at them.

"Why that-!" Carla growled, then looked at Romeo and pointed to him, "BOY! Get your flames! We BURN THE MANSION!"

"Ahm... no." Romeo replied, "Instead, let's go with Plan T: Take them by surprise."

* * *

Carla flew Wendy and Romeo up to the top of Everlue Mansion. She reverted back into her cat form, and using her claws she cut a hole in the window for them all to sneak through.

They found themselves to be in Everlue's attic. They tried to sneak around as carefully as possible, but Carla was still grumbling to herself.

"Carla," Romeo whispered, "Shh! We're trying to sneak around."

"Like ninjas?" Wendy suggested.

"Yeah, like ninjas," Romeo agreed, then started to get an idea.

Carla stopped her angry mumbles and they continued to sneak through the mansion. Everything seemed to have been going fine, until-

"Intruder alert!"

The four ugly maids burst through the floor beneath them. The trio managed to jump back and prepped themselves for battle. Then Carla glanced over to Romeo, and gave out an exasperated sigh.

"What are you doing?" Carla asked.

"We are ninjas," he responded through the scarf that was now wrapped around his face, "Nin-nin!"

The maids jumped in for an attack. They thought they had an advantage since they outnumbered the wizards, but they were sorely mistaken. They were all taken out almost instantly from Wendy **Sky Dragon Roaring **two maids and Romeo giving flaming ninja kicks to the other two.

"We can't be discovered," Romeo said in a hushed voice and doing a ninja pose.

"Would you take that thing off?" said Carla, in an annoyed hushed voice.

* * *

Wendy, Romeo, and Carla were now looking through Everlue's library. Carla was flying along the top shelves to search for the book, Romeo was on a ladder searching the middle shelves, and Wendy was searching through the bottom shelves.

Wendy stopped as a book caught her eye. She pulled it from the shelf and tried to hide it as she read its description on the back.

"Did you find it, Wendy?" Romeo called to her while he was still looking.

"No!," She responded embarrassed and a little red-faced as she put the book back, "Not yet."

They continued their search until they finally came across the book that they were looking for.

Wendy held the book in her hands and gave it to Romeo. "Here it is, _Daybreak._"

"Great," Romeo said, holding the book in one hand and fire in the other, "Let's burn it."

Romeo was about to light the book on fire, when Carla's eyes suddenly widened. She was getting a vision from the future.

_The mansion sinking. Letters flying around the room. A book entitled _Dear Kaby.

"Wait!" Carla shouted, raising her paw.

"What?" Romeo asked, holding the book just above the flame.

"I think there's more to that book than we know."

"Did you get a premonition?" Wendy asked.

"Premo-whah?" asked a confused Romeo.

"Premonition," Carla repeated, "I can see the future."

"Ah, so that's what you were after."

The three mages turned to face the source of this new voice. From its source, Everlue burst through the ground and looked at the wizards, twirling his mustache.

"Why couldn't you have told us about _that _then?!" angrily questioned Romeo as he gestured to the duke.

"It doesn't work like that!" Carla shouted back at him, "I can only see bits and pieces!"

"That's kinda useless!"

"You guys!" Wendy cried, "Stop it!"

The duke sweat-dropped. "Uhm, did you forget I was here?"

"Sorry," apologized Wendy.

"Don't apologize," scolded Carla, "He's trying to stop us."

"Yes, I am," said Everlue, "I was wondering what all those mages were after, and it was that piece of trash!"

They all stood in shocked confusion. _'The client was willing to pay us two-million jewels to have this destroyed,' _Romeo thought, _'And the owner... called it trash? Maybe Carla's right. Maybe there is something going on here.'_

"So... can we keep it?" Romeo asked unsurely.

"Absolutely not!" the duke said sternly, "No matter how worthless that book is, it is still mine. Vanish Brothers!" He clapped his hands, and the nearby bookcase opened up. Standing in it were two menacing looking men, one with tattoos on his arms, the other with a ponytail and a large frying pan.

"It's finally time for business," said the one with the frying pan.

"Good," said the tattooed one, "If we get payed without doing any work Mama'll get upset."

"The Vanish Brothers," Carla said with a serious tone, "They're mercenaries from the guild Southern Wolves." She turned to Romeo. "Hand me the book. I'll try to figure out its secret, you guys buy me some time."

"Okay," Romeo said as he handed off the book and Carla flew away with it.

"Secret?!" Everlue exclaimed, "I didn't know of any secret. Perhaps a treasure map?" He looked in the direction Carla flew in. "No matter. Any secret in that book rightfully belongs to _me!_"

He took off after Carla, leaving Wendy in a panic. "Oh no! He's going after Carla!"

"I'd focus on the opponents in front of you, girly," said one of the mercenaries.

"Romeo!" Wendy shouted to the boy, "Can you go protect Carla?"

"Alright." he answered back, a little reluctantly. He left, which left Wendy up against the two mercenaries.

The one with the frying pan chuckled. "Hmph. Do you know the weak point of a mage?"

Wendy's face paled as she grew a little sick. "Transportation?"

"Ahh... no," the mercenary said, "That might just be your thing. The real weak point of a mage..." He smirked. "... is their body. Especially when the mage is a girl."

He swung the frying pan at Wendy. It destroyed the floor, but Wendy had dodged and jumped into the air before it hit her. "It's true, I may not be physically strong..." He swung the pan once again, and once again missed. "But I make up for it in speed and magic. **Sky Dragon's Roar!**"

A hurricane-like vortex came blasting from her mouth and at the man. He tried to defend with his frying pan, but it did him more harm than good as it caught the attack and sent him flying back into his brother.

"Hm, she's tougher than she looks," said the one with the pan, "No matter." he smirked. He held the pan out behind him, and his brother jumped into it. "Vanish Brothers' United Attack: Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack!"


	4. Dear Kaby

The brother with the pan launched the other one into the air, forcing Wendy to look up. "If you look to the heavens..." The airborne brother said as the other swung at Wendy with his pan. "Then earth is where we'll be!" Wendy was now focused on the one who hit her, who had a smug look on his face. "Look to the earth..." The larger brother came crashing down onto Wendy, leaving her in a crater. "Then the heavens is where we'll be!" The tall man who crashed into the girl then leaped out of the crater, and next to his brother. "This is the Vanishing Brothers' finishing move."

The two looked over the unconscious girl. "Of course no one has ever survived this attack." the frying pan brother gloated. The two began to walk away, grinning to themselves about a job well done, when they heard a strange sucking noise and felt the air being pulled behind them.

"What was that about not surviving?"

The Southern Wolves were shocked to see the presumed dead sky mage standing tall before them.

"No way!" shouted the shorter brother.

"But how?!" shouted the taller.

"I figured whatever you planned I wouldn't be able to dodge, so I cast **Armor **on myself before you attacked," Wendy explained, "It increases my defensive capabilities. And now..." She lifted one arm into the air and held the other across her chest as she began to glow. "Swift winds that run through the heavens, **Vernier**!" She flew at the mercenaries at an incredible speed, sending both to opposite ends of the room with a **Sky Dragon's Wing Slash.**

"Mama," said the taller brother, dazed and confused, "I see fairies..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the sewers below Everlue Mansion, Carla was reading through the book _Daybreak _with the **Gale Force Glasses **she'd received from Levy one Christmas.

"I can't believe this book holds this kind of secret," Carla said, "We have to get it to Mr. Kaby." The white Exceed got up to go reunite with her companions, when an arm came out of the wall and pinned her against it.

"Boyoyoyoing... a cat with **Gale Force Glasses**?" said Everlue as he burst through the wall, "I did not expect that. Now," He held Carla even tighter. "Tell me what you found."

"Your pathetic," Carla spat, "And how could you call me _ugly?!_"

"Uhm, have we met before?" asked the confused duke as Carla tried to escape his grasp.

"Just let that go, Carla."

The Exceed and the duke turned to face their newcomer. Unfortunately for the latter, when he did so he was hit with a ball of **Orange Fire**, which sent him flying back and allowed the former to escape his clutches. "The ugly thing, I mean. Keep the book."

"Romeo," Carla said as she flew to the boy, "I was right about this book having a secret. We have to take it to Kaby Melon immediately!"

The duke began to get up. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. That book is _mine. _So the secret is mine too!"

Romeo got into his battle stance. "The tables have turned, Everlue. It's two against one." With this, Carla transformed into her human form and also got ready to fight.

"Oh, you're the ugly maid from earlier," Everlue said, then he began to grin, "And I believe you're using that phrase wrong. You say 'the tables have turned' only when you get the adva-!"

He couldn't finish his sentence, for Carla had already jumped on him and started attacking and scratching him with her claw-like nails. "I. AM NOT. _UGLY!_"

"Uh, Carla," Romeo called, "You know that's not even what you really look like, right?"

But, Carla didn't seem to hear him over her enraged clawing. Honestly, Romeo was starting to feel _bad _for this guy. The fire wizard would definitely have to remind himself not to get _too far _onto her bad side, seeing as how he was probably already there and the only reason _he_ hadn't been mauled yet was because of Wendy.

The duke somehow managed to escape Carla's wrath. He had several scratches across his face and tears in his suit, but he was still able to stand. He was even grinning. "I'll admit I was taken by surprise there," he said as he wiped his mouth off, "But you're no match for my **Diver **magic.

He then tunneled under the ground, leaving the raven-haired teen surprised. "He's a mage?"

"It was written in this trash," Carla explained, "This awful adventure with that perv as the main character."

"I think it's wonderful I'm the main character," said the duke as he burst out from underneath them and they jumped, "But its content is crap." Everlue became enraged. "He was Kemu Zaleon and he wrote this crap!"

"That's because you forced him to write it!" Carla shouted back, "How can you act so high and mighty?"

"High and mighty?" Everlue chuckled, "I am high and mighty. It should have been an honor for him to write a book about _me!_"

"You threatened him to write it!"

"Threatened?" Romeo questioned, then glared at Everlue, "You're despicable."

"Me? Despicable? I think you're mistaken." Everlue twirled his mustache. "And so what if I threatened him? It's his fault for refusing in the first place!" He launched himself into the air, continuing his rant. "I allowed him to write a book with my high and mighty self as the main character, but that idiot _rejected_ the offer!" Diving into the floor, he began to tunnel. "That's why I told him that if he wouldn't write it, I'd withdraw the citizenship for his entire family!"

_'Withdraw their citizenship...' _Romeo thought, _'How much authority does this guy have?'_

Everlue's hand broke through the ground, and tightly gripped itself to Carla' leg. "But the fact that he'd rejected me once got me angry! So I made him write in a solitary cell!" Everlue gloated, "Boyoyoing! I crushed his pride as a distinguished writer!"

"How could you go that far just to get what you want?!" Carla screamed, "Can you imagine how he felt being in solitary for three years?"

"He realized my greatness." Everlue grinned as his face was now visible.

"He sacrificed his pride!" Carla screamed as she was able to free her leg and kick his face.

"Ouch-" Everlue cried in pain, then he fully surfaced, "How do you know so much?"

"It's all written in this book!" shouted Carla as she held it up, "On the surface, it may be a horrible adventure story..." Carla glared at the old man, "But Kemu Zaleon was also a mage. And he used his power to hide a message in the book."

Everlue paled. "Does it contain his grudge against me?!"

"Please." Carla rolled her eyes, "While _I _may have a few choice words for you, Kemu Zaleon didn't feel like you were worth the effort." She held the book up once again and gave a triumphant look. "The real message is something much more important! Which is why you _cannot _have this book!"

"Why you-!" Everlue said in anger as he charged at Carla.

Romeo prepared a fireball to throw at him. "Oh no you don't."

Everlue was able to dodge it by diving underground. Romeo then stood over the hole, his magic rings glowing.

"What are you doing?" Carla asked, for once with a genuine curiosity.

"Something I saw in a cartoon," Romeo replied.

He pointed his fist into the hole and shot a flame of various colors into it. A few of the other holes that Everlue dug had flames come out, but not that far.

They felt a rumbling from beneath the ground. The duke was all red as he burst from the ground and shot up like a rocket, complete with his own smoke trail.

"You'd be lucky someone'd consider you as a supporting character." Romeo said to the now unconscious and defeated man.

Almost immediately after, Wendy ran in and saw what had taken place.

"Are you two okay?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah," Romeo said as he brushed himself off, "We're fine."

Wendy looked down at the beaten man. "Should I heal him?"

Carla and Romeo both looked at each other, sharing the same thought, then looked back to Wendy. "No," they said in unison.

Suddenly, the entire sewer began to shake. "We must have destroyed the foundation with all the fighting and Everlue's tunneling," Carla said, "This place is coming down!"

"Let's get out of here!" Romeo shouted, and they all ran to the surface.

* * *

Back at Kaby's mansion, their client was shocked to see that the wizards hadn't destroyed the book yet.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the client sturreded as Wendy held the book out to him, "If I remember correctly, I asked you to destroy that book."

"It's a simple task, Kaby-san," Wendy said.

"You should be able to do it yourself," said Carla.

"Fine then!" Kaby snatched the book from Wendy, and looked at it with disgust. "I'll incinerate it! I don't even want to look at it!"

"I know why you can't stand the existence of that book," Carla told Kaby, who froze in shock, "It's to protect the honor of your father, Kemu Zaleon."

Romeo was shocked, while Wendy had a look of joy."So that's where I heard his name before!" Wendy whispered to herself, but Romeo heard her.

"Huh?"

"Kemu Zaleon's real name was Zekua Melon," Wendy explained, "There's another girl in the guild, kind of a bookworm, who always loved to read his books."

_'And won't shut up about the books she reads.' _Wendy thought.

"How did you know?" Kaby asked Carla, not really paying attention to Wendy and Romeo's conversation.

"It was all written in this book," Carla explained.

"But- but my father told me himself that this book was nothing but trash!" Kaby exclaimed, "And now you're telling me that trash was about his own family?!"

Carla raised her paw at him. "I can see where you're confused, but no. _That _book is a piece of garbage about an old pervert."

_'Who wouldn't know beauty if it hit him in the head,' _Carla thought, _'Which it did. Several times.'_

"But, what your father really wrote," the Exceed continued, "was a message, for you."

"What?" Kaby asked, now incredibly confused. He remembered how this accursed book had effected his life. How his own father had called it trash. How his father stopped being a writer and cut off his own arm because of it. How he yelled at his father for writing the awful book, and how his father took his own life not long after. And how all that anger he'd felt towards his father had turned to pain and regret over the years. And now he was being told the book was a message for him?

The last words Kaby's father ever said to him rang through his head. _'You were always on my mind...'_

"It can't be..." Kaby whispered.

"If you don't believe us, then go ahead," Carla said, "Destroy it."

"I will!" Kaby shouted. He lit a match and held it under the book, when suddenly it began to glow. "What the...?"

The book tore open and the letters began to fly off the pages and dance across the room until they flew back into the book in a new order. The book closed, revealing its new title to be _Dear Kaby._

Kaby looked at the book in shocked confusion. "W-wha? But, this...?"

"Kemu Zaleon didn't quit being a writer because he wrote the worst book in existence," Carla proclaimed, "It's because he wrote the best one."

Kaby was now smiling at the book his father left for him. "I never really... understood him..." He looked up to the three mages. "Thank you... I can't destroy this book now."

"Well, I guess we don't need to be paid then, either." Wendy said.

The looks of joy on the other two mages faces were gone the instant she'd said that. "What?!"

"Well, yeah," Wendy continued as she walked over to them. "The mission was to destroy the book. We didn't do it, so we don't deserve to be paid."

"I guess you're right," Carla mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Kaby asked, surprised at how easily she was turning down his reward.

"Yes," Wendy answered him, "We don't need the money anyways. Seeing that you'll be able to connect more with your father is reward enough."

Romeo waved his head frantically between the girl and their client. "Wait-! But-!" He said as he watched his friends leave.

"Come on, Romeo," Wendy called back to him, "We should be getting home now. You should probably go home too, Kaby-san."

* * *

"I can't believe we just turned down two million jewels," Romeo sulked as him, Wendy, and Carla walked along the dirt road.

"The guy wasn't even rich," Carla told him, "Stop being so selfish."

"Me?!" Romeo yelled back, "You were equally disappointed she turned down his offer! And _you _were the one who tried to tear him apart just because he thought you were ugly. Talk about self-centered. Especially when it was just a transformation and not your actual appearance."

"Guys, stop it!" Wendy whined.

"Fine," Carla said, turning away from Romeo.

"Alright," Romeo mumbled, looking away from Carla and then picking his head back up to look at Wendy. "How did you know he didn't live there, anyways?"

"He didn't smell like the house." Wendy answered.

Romeo was impressed. "Wow, those dragon senses are pretty amazing."

"There both a blessing and a curse."

"A curse...?" Romeo asked in confusion.

"There are some things you don't want to overhear."

The flame mage chose not to question this. He wasn't entirely sure what stuff she might have heard over the years, but it was probably best he didn't find out.

They continued their walk, when suddenly they heard a rustling from within the bushes. Romeo got poised for an attack, but Wendy had a smile on her face. "Rogue!"

The black haired man stepped out of the bush. "Ah, Wendy, it's good to see you," the shadow mage said, "I was on my way back to the guild."

"Great. We were heading there too." the girl responded, pointing to Carla and Romeo.

Rogue was expressionless as he looked at Romeo. "Who's he?"

"Oh! This..." Wendy went over to the boy. "is Romeo."

"'Sup." Romeo greeted him.

"I asked Romeo to be on our team," Wendy said, "Hope you don't mind."

"No complaints here. As long as you trust him, I will. I just hope he can get used to our... other team member."

"Who's your other team member?" Romeo asked, beginning to worry.

The black haired man gave an uncharacteristic grin. "Oh, don't worry about it. And, speaking of her, she'll be back pretty soon."

Wendy's eyes glowed with happiness. "Awesome! Romeo, you'll finally get to meet her. Just be warned, you do _not _want to get on her bad side."

"Ain't that the truth." Rogue shuddered.

Romeo only grew more nervous from this. The bluenette saw the look on her new friends face, and decided maybe she could have some fun with this.

"Don't worry. She's not _that _bad." Wendy teased.

"Who is she?" Romeo inquired once again, not at all helped by Wendy's comment.

The sky and shadow mages both gave each other knowing looks, then once again faced the flame mage.

"Titania."

* * *

Meanwhile, a bruenette was on her way back to the Fairy Tail guild hall, with a large monster horn slung around her shoulder.

"Been a while since I've been back," the bruenette chuckled, "Wonder what those bastards've been up to?"


	5. Titania

It had been unusually quiet in the Fairy Tail guild that morning. There was yet to be any fights, no one had broken anything, no one was passed out drunk (which, you'd think wouldn't happen anyways at ten in the morning, but you'd be surprised), nothing. So, in an attempt to escape his boredom, we find our flame mage looking over the request board, searching for a good job.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like there were any to be found.

"'Search for a magic bracelet'? ...No... 'Missing kid last seen at P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney'? ...No... 'Stop stupid fanfiction writers from making crappy parodies of our anime!'?... Nah..." Romeo groaned in frustration, "There aren't any good jobs here!"

"I know, right?" Nab commented, "Are you looking for a special job specific for your talents, too?"

"Ah, no," Romeo answered, "I'm just looking to get out of my boredom, but so far none of these jobs are really that interesting."

Yukino smiled and chuckled at him from the bar as she wiped the dishes. "Well, Romeo, when you do find a good job to do, come and bring it to me. Since the master's not here right now."

"Huh?" Romeo said. He then looked to the bar's counter, and saw the short mage who was usually there, wasn't. "Oh yeah. Where is he, anyways?"

"At the regular meetings."

"Regular meetings?"

"It's a meeting between guild masters of different provinces come to report about their guilds," Yukino explained, "It's different than council meetings, but... I guess it could be hard to explain."

The barmaid looked over to a heavy-set man in a white shirt. "Reedus," she called to him, "May I borrow your **Light Pen**?"

"Oui," said the man, who then gave her the pen.

Romeo watched as Yukino began to draw out a diagram in front of him. "You couldn't have known the organizational chart of the mage world when you just joined a guild, right?" Yukino asked, continuing to draw, "The ten council members hold the highest ranks in the mage world. They exist to protect the order in the mage world. They also try mages who commit crimes in guilds. Guild masters are right underneath them. Their job is to smoothen out communications between guilds in each province. And to notify their guild members about council decisions, as well as bring them together... It's quite a hard job to do."

"I had no idea that each guild had connections with one another," Romeo said in astonishment as he gazed upon the diagram.

"Yes," Yukino said in a deathly serious tone, "Connections between the guilds are important. If you neglect them, the council may begin to consider you as a dark guild."

"Dark guild?"

"They're guilds that the council doesn't recognize as an official guilds. They don't follow the laws of the official guilds, either. They accept jobs that are normally forbidden, like kidnapping or assassination requests."

"Woah," Romeo said, "That's... kind of terrifying."

"Yes," Yukino agreed, "It is."

All Romeo could hear was silence as he thought about what Yukino had just told him. He couldn't believe that guilds like that would even exist. Finally, his train of thought was broken as an out of breath man ran into the guild hall.

"She's... she's back!" the man gasped.

Everyone around them went into a frenzy. They began picking up litter left on the floor. Chairs and tables were put back into their proper places. Even ice prick (Romeo's new nicknames for Gray, seeing as he's taken to calling him "flame-brain") was trying to find his scattered clothes faster than he usually did.

"Who's back?" Romeo asked Yukino, "And why is everyone acting like this?"

"Because Titania's coming back," Yukino answered.

Romeo gulped. This was the other member of Wendy's team. Her and Rogue kept telling him stuff about her. Like how she was an S-class mage and among the top three strongest mages in the guild, aside from the master and some other old guy they talked about. How she could use her magic to slay hordes of monsters or take down large groups of bandits single handedly. And how you should never, _ever_, get on the wrong side of her. Because, according to them, not only can she probably take you down physically with a single strike, but she is also fully capable of getting every piece of dirt on you from right now to the moment you were born. Then she could use that dirt to destroy your reputation as well. Overall, the way they described her sounded horrifying. Though, Romeo was sure that they were _probably _just messing with him.

She couldn't be that scary, right?

The guild doors slammed open, and everyone went deadly quiet. It was hard to tell who or what was in the door. All that could be seen was the silhouette of a strange shape. Then, that figure began to move forward, and, as it became more visible, it was revealed to be a woman holding a giant bejeweled monster fang high above her head.

_'Oh crap' _Romeo thought nervously, _'They weren't lying!'_

No one in the guild dared to move a muscle, except to turn their heads to keep their attention on her.

She set the fang down in the middle of the room. Turning her head from side to side, she looked over the entire guild hall. It was still hard to see her face, with the light still coming in from directly behind her, but Romeo could swear that she was smiling. And not in a kind hearted way. More like a "I'm about to do something and you bitches can't stop me" kind of way. She began to raise her arms, Romeo terrified as to what she was about to say, and she shouted to the whole guild, "I'm back, bitches!"

_'Huh?' _Romeo certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Cana!"

The whole guild went wild with cheering and welcoming the person home. Romeo was able to see her better now, too, as the light behind her had finally subsided. She was a brunette with a nice figure who appeared to be wearing black pants that hugged her waist and a blue bikini top which revealed most of her large chest (which Romeo should probably stop staring at). She looked to be almost a head taller and maybe a year or two older than Wendy. Her guild mark was on the left side of her stomach (the boy finally stopped focusing on her chest. Now if he could only his eyes would start looking in the right direction). But, what stood out most of all was the way she was walking.

She looked, for lack of a better term, drunk.

No, wait, scratch that. She _was _drunk.

"Now, I heard you've all been getting into trouble recently," the brunette said seriously, causing everyone else to go quiet once again, "And all I can say is... keep it up!"

The whole guild cheered. "YEAH!"

"Yeah!" Cana chanted with them, "Let's party! Gray! What're you doing with your clothes on? Vegeta!-"

"It's Vijeeter."

"-Keep dancing! Nab! Stop doing nothing at the board and have a drink! In fact... Everyone! Drinks are on me!" Cana grabbed one of the jewels from the horn, and yanked it off. "This should about cover it."

"YEAH!"

Romeo gave Yukino a skeptical look. "That's the legendary Titania? The 'fairy queen'?"

The barmaid giggled. "Yeah," she said, "Cana's kind of the wild-child of our guild. And the name 'Titania' is more of a name she gave herself after one of her 'more legendary' drinking contests." The white-haired girl then looked over to the brunette and shouted, "Cana! Drinks are already free for guild members! _You_, of all people, should know this!"

"Oh yeah," Cana said, taking the seat one down from Romeo, "Speaking of which, the usual please."

"Okay." Yukino walked off to get her drink.

Cana sat there, tapping her fingers and waiting for her drink, until she looked behind her to notice Romeo glancing nervously at her. "Hm, never seen you around the guild before," she said, then slid over one seat to be next to him, "So..." She raised an eyebrow. "What's your name?"

"Uhm..."

"Cana!"

They both turned to see the bluenette who just cheered the brunette's name.

"Wendy!" Cana called back, getting up and spreading her arms wide, "Come give onee-san a hug!"

The younger one did just that as she ran up to the older one and jumped into her arms. "It's been so long!" Wendy said cheerfully, "How was the mission?"

"Oh, you know..." Cana chuckled, glancing over to her monster horn, "eventful." They both let go of each other, and they calmed down while still retaining their smiles. "I actually have another mission I'll be going on soon, but I'll need some help." She turned her head, and brought her hand up to her mouth to amplify her voice. "Yo, Rogue! Get over here! This involves you to."

The shadow mage walked over to them, a slight smile on his face. "Nice to see you, Cana."

"Alright. This mission requires the whole team, so-"

"Ooh!" the sky mage interrupted, "If it needs the whole team, then Romeo, you should be a part of this too!"

"Romeo?" Cana questioned. She turned her head to see where the bluenette was facing, and saw that she was talking to the purple-haired boy Cana'd been talking to earlier.

Romeo got up to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Romeo," he said awkwardly, holding out his hand, "I guess we're on the same team now?"

"Oh, so _that's _why you were looking at me like that." Cana laughed. "And here I thought you were checking out my girls." she said, lifting up her breasts.

Romeo's face became a bright red. "What?! No! I wasn't-! I didn't-!"

"Hahah, just messing with you, kid," Cana chuckled, then looked to see that Wendy also had a face like a tomato and was covering her chest. "Aww, is nee-chan embarrassed her girls aren't as big as onee-san's? Don't worry, you still got a decent pair on you. Right, Rogue?"

Now was the shadow mages turn to be as red as a lobster. "Uhm-?! I-!? Well it's not like I _look-_! I-! Uhm-!?"

Wendy was now starting to tear up a bit with her lip quivering. "Great, you were no help." Cana said condescendingly to the shadow mage, then turned to Romeo, "Well, what do you think of 'em?"

If Romeo was a normal red before, he was now so red you probably couldn't tell the difference between his face and Erza's hair. "I-!? Uh-?! Uhm-?!"

"Wow..." Cana said, "You're both idiots. I guess _I'll _have to be the one to change the topic, so..." She leaned in towards Romeo. "...your Wendy's new boyfriend?"

If Romeo's and Wendy's faces _could've_ gotten redder, they probably would have.

"What?!"

"No!"

"Wait, _new_? Wendy?!"

"AH! We're just friends!"

"Good," called a new, disdainful voice.

"Carla," Cana said, glancing to the Exceed.

"Cana."

Cana clapped her hands. "Welp! I need to get ready for our next mission! Meet me at the train station tomorrow and we'll discuss more on the way."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the dark guild of Eisenwald, the members were discussing a recent encounter they've had with Cana themselves.

"Which guild is that woman from?" asked one.

"Dunno," answered another.

"She's gorgeous..." said the first, "Shit! I should have made a move on her!"

"Like you'd stand a chance!" laughed a third.

"Is Kageyama back yet?"

"It's not an easy task to break the seal on 'that' thing, so it can't be helped.

"Nyahahaha," chucked the man with wild, blond hair who'd been silent up to this point, "Be patient. We'll get the geezers at the regular meeting."

* * *

The next day, at Magnolia's train station, Wendy, Romeo, and Rogue were discussing what their mission could be while Cana went to pay for their tickets and Carla did a last-minute bag check for the bluenette.

"So... what do you think it is?" asked Romeo.

"Not sure..." Wendy answered, "Usually when Cana gives us 'surprise missions' like this, it's potentially something big, something dangerous, or something you probably wouldn't want to do if you had known about it."

"Oh... well then... uhm, Rogue, do you have any ideas?" The shadow mage merely shrugged to the fire mage. Romeo then leaned in towards Wendy and whispered, "He doesn't talk much, does he?"

Wendy chuckled. "Don't worry about it," she whispered back, "He'll talk more when he's used to you."

Cana then came back with their tickets. "Alright, we're ready to go!" she said as she began to step towards the train.

"Wait, Cana," Wendy said shyly, "I'd like to ask you something."

"Oh?" Cana responded, eyes wide with curiosity.

"When we get back, would you fight with me?"

Everyone but Cana was shocked by Wendy's request. Cana, however, chuckled and crossed her arms. "So, you think you're finally big enough to take on onee-san?"

"Yes," Wendy answered, more confidently this time, "I've gotten a lot stronger since last time."

"Hm," Cana smirked, "Very well. But be warned, nee-chan, I won't go easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Wendy!" Carla whispered to the girl as the Exceed flew up to her ear, "What on Earthland are you thinking?! You don't go around picking fights! I thought I taught you better! And don't you remember what happened _last time?_"

"I know what I'm doing, Carla," Wendy whispered back.

"What happened last time?" Romeo whispered to Rogue, both of whom "just happened" to be within earshot of this conversation.

"Wendy lost," Rogue answered.

"Yeah, I got that part."

* * *

The five mages piled onto the train. They took their seats, Wendy, Cana, and Carla on one side, Romeo and Rogue on the other. And, of course, as soon as the train started moving, Wendy was struck with a horrible case of motion sickness.

"Poor girl," Cana said sympathetically to the distressed Wendy, the latter's head resting on the former's lap as the former stroked the latter's hair. The brunette then pulled out what looked like a fortune teller card and held it above the bluenette. "Sleep," she whispered, and Wendy did just so.

"You're a card mage?" Romeo asked.

"Yep," Cana answered, "Surprised?"

"A little. I've heard you were one of the strongest people in the guild, but normally card mages aren't that tough." Romeo saw the glare that Cana was giving him, so he nervously tried to amend his statement with, "B-but, then again, I've never actually seen you use your card magic! In fact..." Cana's glare had subsided, allowing Romeo's nerves to go away and have them replaced with a new sense of realization. "I think the only magic I've seen from this guild is Wendy's magic."

"Hm. Well, as you saw, I use card-based magic. And I'm pretty good at it too," Cana bragged, "I can even use these cards to predict your future."

"Prove it."

"Okay." Cana set three cards on her lap face down. She then flipped them over one by one and said the name of each card. "Heaven's Tower... Parallel Lands... Lost Years."

"What kind of fortune is that?"

"Just wait and see," Cana smirked.

Romeo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you might be a strong card mage, but for now I'll just chalk up your fortune telling up to being complete bull." The flame mage leaned back in his seat, then gave a glance to Rogue. "So, what magic do you use?"

"**Shadow magic**," he answered. Realizing he should probably continue his explanation, he added, "I can manipulate the shadows around me and bend them to my will." To demonstrate, Rogue moved his hand to where the edge of the train window was creating a small shadow. He made a pulling motion towards it, and black streaks lifted themselves from the shadow and into the mage's hand. Rogue held the swirling ball of darkness in front of the impressed Romeo, until he covered it with his free hand, then uncovered it to reveal a pitch-black floating Fairy Tail symbol. "I'm also capable of using the shadows for short distance teleportation."

"You're can do much more than that, Rogue," Cana commented.

Rogue simply shrugged her off, turning to face the window and hoping not to talk about this particular subject. Sadly for him though, Romeo was interested.

"What else can he do?"

"He can-"

"Please, Cana," Rogue interrupted, "Let's not talk about it."

"Why don't you want to talk about it?" Romeo asked.

Rogue turned away from the flame mage. "It just... brings back bad memories."

As he mentioned this, Carla began to look down at the floor, and even Cana's previously cheerful demeanor was gone. Deciding he probably shouldn't press on this any further, Romeo switched topics.

"So, what's this mission we're going on, anyways?"

The other three looked back up at the teen, each happy he saw this was a touchy subject for them.

"Let me explain," Cana began, "I was on my way back from work, when I stopped by a bar in Onibus where other mages gather. Some folks there caught my attention..."

* * *

_A female card mage was sitting at the counter of the bar, happily chugging away at a bottle of alcohol and congratulating herself on yet another job well done, when she overheard a shout coming from a nearby table._

"_Rawr! Where's my booze!"_

_She turned her attention to a man, who appeared to have actual, almost cat-like, whiskers, and his three buddies, and began to listen in._

"_Why are you so slow?!" yelled the same man to the waitress bringing his drink._

"_I'm sorry..." she responded weakly._

"_Beard," called one of his friends, this one with a striped helmet, "Don't get so angry."_

"_Hrmm," mumbled a more heavy-set man._

"_How can I not be angry?!" the one now known as Beard yelled, causing the waitress to stumble back with a shrill 'Eeek!', "We finally found the hidden '__**Lullaby**__', but it was all sealed up! How'd they do that?! We can't break it at all!"_

"_Idiot!" the one in the helmet loudly whispered, "You're too loud."_

"_Yup," agreed the larger one, though he showed no emotion, "Noisy."_

_Beard drank his beer nervously. "Shit!"_

"_It's not like we can break the seal, even with more people," said the fourth member of their group who had a short pony-tail, earning a 'huh?' from his friends. The man then got up, with a smile on his face. "Tell Zancrow-san I will definitely come back with the __**Lullaby **__in three days."_

"_For real?! You figured out how to break the seal?!"_

"_Great job, Kage-chan!"_

* * *

"**Lullaby**...?" Rogue whispered curiously.

"**Lullaby**..." Romeo repeated, "Could it be some sort of sleeping magic?"

"I don't know," Cana answered seriously, "But, since it's sealed, it probably contains a powerful magic."

"But wait... Couldn't this just be some people doing their jobs? Like it was their mission to break this seal?"

"That's what I thought, too. Until I remembered the name Zancrow." Cana took a pause for a moment. "The ace of Eisenwald, Zancrow the Shinigami."

"Sh-shinigami?!" Romeo stuttered.

"It's a nickname people gave him because he kept taking assassination requests. The council prohibits guilds from accepting these requests, but Eisenwald did it for the money." The train then stopped at their destination, and Cana continued her explanation as they got off. "So, six years ago the guild got ousted from the mage guild league, and is now considered a dark guild."

"D-dark guild?" Romeo asked, terrified. "Wait!? Didn't you say they were 'ousted'? Weren't they also punished?"

"They were. Their guildmaster got arrested, and the guild was told to disband. But most dark guilds keep functioning after that."

Romeo was now nervous to his core. He was fine with fighting one Vulcan and trying to take a book from an old man. That, he could do. But he was _not _fine with marching into a guild where potentially every member knew a different way to kill you. So, he put on a fake smile, and held both the card mage and shadow mage on the shoulder. "Well... you guys probably got this. I'll just get in the way." He said, beginning to walk back to the train and waving bye to the mages. "See you guys at the guild."

He then felt himself fall into complete and utter darkness. Mere seconds later, he was standing back next to Rogue, who had a smirk on his face. "I can also use my shadows to do that."

"I think I liked you better when you didn't talk to me."

"Heheh," Cana chuckled, "Who'd have figured Wendy's new boyfriend was a coward."

"I'm not a coward!" Romeo shouted defensively, "And I'm not her boyfriend! And, speaking of which..." The fire mage looked around, taking count of the people who'd stepped off the train with him. "Where is Wendy?"

They all paled as soon as they realized that the perky sky mage wasn't with them. Carla took to the skies to search for Wendy from above, while everyone else searched through the nearby crowd. They all met back up, and realized that they must have left her on the train... that was departing right now.

"Shit."

* * *

On the now departed train, Wendy had woken up from Cana's sleep spell, and was back to trying not to lose her lunch.

"Haa...haa...kah..." she gasped.

"My, my, my..." said a man who'd decided to take the seat opposite to Wendy, "You seem to be in pain. Are you okay?"

Wendy was only able to respond with weak and exasperated gasps for air.

Kageyama then took notice of Wendy's guild mark. "Fairy Tail, a regular guild..." he smiled, "I envy you."


End file.
